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Hackberry Holland #2
Rain Gods
When Hackberry Holland became sheriff of a tiny Texas town near the Mexican border, he'd hoped to leave certain things his checkered reputation, his haunted dreams, and his obsessive memories of the good life with his late wife, Rie. But the discovery of the bodies of nine illegal aliens, machine-gunned to death and buried in a shallow grave behind a church, soon makes it clear that he won't escape so easily. As Hack and Deputy Sheriff Pam Tibbs attempt to untangle the threads of this complex and grisly case, a damaged young Iraq veteran, Pete Flores, and his girlfriend, Vikki Gaddis, are running for their lives, hoping to outwit the bloodthirsty criminals who want to kill Pete for his involvement in the murders. The only trouble is, Pete doesn't know who he's running drunk and terrified, he fled the scene of the crime when the shooting began. And there's a long list of people who want Pete and Vikki crime boss Hugo Cistranos, who hired Pete for the operation; Nick Dolan, a strip club owner and small-time gangster with revenge on his mind; and a mysterious God-fearing serial-killer-for-hire known as Preacher Jack Collins, with enigmatic motives of his own. With the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a host of cold-blooded killers on Pete and Vikki's trail, it's up to Sheriff Holland to find them first and figure out who's behind the mass murder before anyone else ends up dead. In this thrilling and intricate work, James Lee Burke has once again proven himself a master storyteller and a perceptive chronicler of the darkest corners of the human heart. Unabridged Compact Disk Includes a Bonus MP3 CD of James Lee Burke's Cimarron Rose !
434 pages, Hardcover
First published June 24, 2009
510 people are currently reading
1811 people want to read
About the author
James Lee Burke
119 books4,155 followersJames Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for
Black Cherry Blues
in 1990 and
Cimarron Rose
in 1998.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 543 reviews
November 1, 2014
The first of this Hackberry Holland trilogy Lay Down My Sword and Shield was released in 1971, it then took James Lee Burke 38 years to pen this sequel and fuck me was it worth the wait, 38 years of wisdom and experience have gone into these characters and it shows.
Not for me of course because I’m lucky enough to read all three books one after the other, the first lay Hackberry Holland’s soul open for all to see and you don’t see characters laid as bare as this very often. In the first story Hack was an often infuriating man, took liberties with everyone around him and pretty much did everything his own way with no respect or recompense, just a long trip down Jack Daniels Way.
In Rain Gods, time has moved on for everyone, Hack no longer a lawyer is on a different angle of the law, he’s now a small town Texas Sherriff and an old man, somewhere in his fifties I guestimate because his wife is now dead, his kids up and away and Hack just has his role as a law enforcement officer and his horses to occupy him. If that wasn’t enough he finds himself caught up in the disturbing consequences of the massacre of 9 Thai women, illegal aliens used for drug trafficking. The search for justice pits Holland against drug dealers, pimps and one particularly psychopathic man who hastens death to those that are looking for it and some that aren’t.
Whereas the first in the trilogy primarily concentrated on Hack, his history as a POW and his almost death wish philosophy. Rain Gods opens up on a lot more characters, everyone of them flawed in some way, striving for redemption or just cold hard cash.
This is where we meet one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever encountered, ‘Preacher’ Jack Collins is a gun for hire, a complicated man whose actions surprised and shocked me several times, the self-styled left hand of God who spends a good portion of this book on crutches due to the fact a woman he was supposed to kill, bettered him and shot him in the foot. An unpredictable man who seems to find an edge in every conversation and this for me was the most compelling part of the story, the dialogue is absolutely riveting at times, Tom Stechschulte the narrator did a fantastic job and every conversation around the Preacher had a hint of danger to it.
And when Hack Holland meets Preacher Jack Collins, you’re never quite sure which way it’s going to go, especially when the Preacher carries a Thompson machine gun as his chosen method of a quick conclusion.
It’s not just a story full of Texan gangsters, there are several strong willed female characters that add to the story, Deputy Pam Tibbs being the most prevalent and it’s almost a joy to listen to her attempts to ensnare the wily old Sherriff in places he just doesn’t want to go.
James Lee Burke creates an atmosphere perfect for the occasion, there’s mention of the Alamo and tumbleweed amidst the carnage that is Rain Gods but this is a deep personnel story from both sides of the fence and I enjoyed it immensely. In fact I’m going to listen to the last one with thoughts of this going into my all-time top 5, it is that good.
Highly recommended
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
Not for me of course because I’m lucky enough to read all three books one after the other, the first lay Hackberry Holland’s soul open for all to see and you don’t see characters laid as bare as this very often. In the first story Hack was an often infuriating man, took liberties with everyone around him and pretty much did everything his own way with no respect or recompense, just a long trip down Jack Daniels Way.
In Rain Gods, time has moved on for everyone, Hack no longer a lawyer is on a different angle of the law, he’s now a small town Texas Sherriff and an old man, somewhere in his fifties I guestimate because his wife is now dead, his kids up and away and Hack just has his role as a law enforcement officer and his horses to occupy him. If that wasn’t enough he finds himself caught up in the disturbing consequences of the massacre of 9 Thai women, illegal aliens used for drug trafficking. The search for justice pits Holland against drug dealers, pimps and one particularly psychopathic man who hastens death to those that are looking for it and some that aren’t.
Whereas the first in the trilogy primarily concentrated on Hack, his history as a POW and his almost death wish philosophy. Rain Gods opens up on a lot more characters, everyone of them flawed in some way, striving for redemption or just cold hard cash.
This is where we meet one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever encountered, ‘Preacher’ Jack Collins is a gun for hire, a complicated man whose actions surprised and shocked me several times, the self-styled left hand of God who spends a good portion of this book on crutches due to the fact a woman he was supposed to kill, bettered him and shot him in the foot. An unpredictable man who seems to find an edge in every conversation and this for me was the most compelling part of the story, the dialogue is absolutely riveting at times, Tom Stechschulte the narrator did a fantastic job and every conversation around the Preacher had a hint of danger to it.
And when Hack Holland meets Preacher Jack Collins, you’re never quite sure which way it’s going to go, especially when the Preacher carries a Thompson machine gun as his chosen method of a quick conclusion.
It’s not just a story full of Texan gangsters, there are several strong willed female characters that add to the story, Deputy Pam Tibbs being the most prevalent and it’s almost a joy to listen to her attempts to ensnare the wily old Sherriff in places he just doesn’t want to go.
James Lee Burke creates an atmosphere perfect for the occasion, there’s mention of the Alamo and tumbleweed amidst the carnage that is Rain Gods but this is a deep personnel story from both sides of the fence and I enjoyed it immensely. In fact I’m going to listen to the last one with thoughts of this going into my all-time top 5, it is that good.
Highly recommended
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
September 22, 2025
James Lee Burke is a phenomenal writer of crime fiction, and “Rain Gods” (the second book in a series featuring Hackberry Holland, sheriff of a small Texas town) is an excellent crime thriller, but...
(And you kind of knew that there was going to be a “but” there, didn’t you? One never just starts a review gushing praises on an author and his book like that, because what kind of reviewer worth his salt would just write “all is great about this book, absolutely nothing wrong with it”, because that would just be so goddamned boring, right?)
But, really, all is great about this book, and absolutely nothing is wrong with it.
And yet...
(So, is this building suspense or is it just pissing you off? I get it. You’ve come to hear the nitty gritty, the real deal, the meat and potatoes, the truth. Why drag it out?)
It may help to first summarize the book’s plot, and maybe then you’ll see where my dilemma lies in attempting to articulate the book’s problem.
Anyway, here’s the story in a nutshell: a young Texan comes across a horrible scene in the desert. He does something that implicates him in this horrible crime, making him a target for some very bad people looking to tie up loose ends. Not only that, but he has---simply by dint of his existence---also put in harm’s way his innocent young girlfriend. These very bad guys hire a killer who they have no hopes of controlling as the killer is a violent force of nature, one with his own unknowable agenda. The only real hope for the young man and his girlfriend is a wise, grizzled but still powerful sheriff, one who is haunted by his own demons of post-traumatic stress from a war that happened decades ago.
It sounds good, right? And it is. Burke tells a humdinger of a suspenseful thriller. And I suppose if one only ever reads one book in a lifetime, and that book happens to be “Rain Gods”, then there would not be a problem.
Unfortunately, there are more books in the world other than “Rain Gods”, and since I am somewhat well-read, I immediately recognized something weird about this book. Those of you who are equally well-read may have already deduced what the problem is based on the plot summary.
The story bears a striking resemblance to Cormac McCarthy’s brilliant 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men”. And when I say “striking” I mean a good smack-in-the-forehead blatant similarity, one that gave me more than a few “WTF?” moments when reading.
Not that it severely put a damper on my enjoyment of the book, because as I mentioned before, “Rain Gods” is an excellent thriller regardless.
I’m not even sure if the similarities can be adequately explained, other than the fact that both authors are attempting to write contemporary westerns and both are attempting to examine the nature of violence in a 21st-century setting. I mean, it’s somewhat telling that there is only a four-year span between publication dates of the novels (“Rain Gods” was published in 2009) and only a short two years between the release of the Coen Bros.’ fantastic film adaptation of “No Country for Old Men” and “Rain Gods”. (Even more coincidence: actor Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in “NCfOM” also played Dave Robicheaux in the film adaptation of Burke’s novel “In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead”.)
Whatever. Call it plagiarism or call it a very bizarre similarity in plot, the bottom line is: “Rain Gods” is still a great book, written by a great author. It just happens to share some similarities with another great book written by another great author. Thankfully, the differences between the works shine a light on the very different worldviews of the authors. Where McCarthy is bleak and fatalistic, Burke tends to be more upbeat and a believer in redemption. I guess one’s preference for either books is dependent on where one falls on that spectrum.
(And you kind of knew that there was going to be a “but” there, didn’t you? One never just starts a review gushing praises on an author and his book like that, because what kind of reviewer worth his salt would just write “all is great about this book, absolutely nothing wrong with it”, because that would just be so goddamned boring, right?)
But, really, all is great about this book, and absolutely nothing is wrong with it.
And yet...
(So, is this building suspense or is it just pissing you off? I get it. You’ve come to hear the nitty gritty, the real deal, the meat and potatoes, the truth. Why drag it out?)
It may help to first summarize the book’s plot, and maybe then you’ll see where my dilemma lies in attempting to articulate the book’s problem.
Anyway, here’s the story in a nutshell: a young Texan comes across a horrible scene in the desert. He does something that implicates him in this horrible crime, making him a target for some very bad people looking to tie up loose ends. Not only that, but he has---simply by dint of his existence---also put in harm’s way his innocent young girlfriend. These very bad guys hire a killer who they have no hopes of controlling as the killer is a violent force of nature, one with his own unknowable agenda. The only real hope for the young man and his girlfriend is a wise, grizzled but still powerful sheriff, one who is haunted by his own demons of post-traumatic stress from a war that happened decades ago.
It sounds good, right? And it is. Burke tells a humdinger of a suspenseful thriller. And I suppose if one only ever reads one book in a lifetime, and that book happens to be “Rain Gods”, then there would not be a problem.
Unfortunately, there are more books in the world other than “Rain Gods”, and since I am somewhat well-read, I immediately recognized something weird about this book. Those of you who are equally well-read may have already deduced what the problem is based on the plot summary.
The story bears a striking resemblance to Cormac McCarthy’s brilliant 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men”. And when I say “striking” I mean a good smack-in-the-forehead blatant similarity, one that gave me more than a few “WTF?” moments when reading.
Not that it severely put a damper on my enjoyment of the book, because as I mentioned before, “Rain Gods” is an excellent thriller regardless.
I’m not even sure if the similarities can be adequately explained, other than the fact that both authors are attempting to write contemporary westerns and both are attempting to examine the nature of violence in a 21st-century setting. I mean, it’s somewhat telling that there is only a four-year span between publication dates of the novels (“Rain Gods” was published in 2009) and only a short two years between the release of the Coen Bros.’ fantastic film adaptation of “No Country for Old Men” and “Rain Gods”. (Even more coincidence: actor Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in “NCfOM” also played Dave Robicheaux in the film adaptation of Burke’s novel “In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead”.)
Whatever. Call it plagiarism or call it a very bizarre similarity in plot, the bottom line is: “Rain Gods” is still a great book, written by a great author. It just happens to share some similarities with another great book written by another great author. Thankfully, the differences between the works shine a light on the very different worldviews of the authors. Where McCarthy is bleak and fatalistic, Burke tends to be more upbeat and a believer in redemption. I guess one’s preference for either books is dependent on where one falls on that spectrum.
September 4, 2016
4.5★
"We decry violence all the time in this country, but look at our history. We were born in a violent revolution, and we've been in wars ever since. We're not a pacific people." James Lee Burke
From a goodreads review: "Fuck me. Burke is such a goddamn badass."
If that language offends, you probably do not want to read these books. In this one Hackberry is an aging sheriff with a bad back, nursing sobriety, and he’s still a badass. Plus, our author is an equal opportunity writer and his women are also badass. Be very careful around them if they’ve been in or near the kitchen. The villains are as bad as it gets in the worst possible way. We’re talking Quentin Tarantino bad. While Hackberry is confronting a slime ball named Ouzel (that name) he “thought he could detect an odor that was reminiscent of a violated grave or the stench given off by an incinerator in which dead animals were burned.” Definitely skull and crossbones tattoo-on-their-forehead-bad.
Burke's trademark prose sings out like a siren song reeling you in. It’s like he's serenading you with poetry. If he was away at the ranch without you and you called and asked "Then what happened Jimmy?" he’d say something like “Then the sun broke above the crest of the hills and the entire countryside looked soaked in blood, the arroyos deep in shadow, the cones of dead volcanoes stark and biscuit-colored against the sky. I could smell the pinion trees, wet sea, woodsmoke, cattle in the pastures, and creek water that had melted from the snow. I could smell the way the country probably was when it was only a dream in the mind of God.” (Jesus Out to Sea).
Any other author would have a hard time having his way with me in this dark matter (even if I’m drinking a badass Zinfandel). It’s really hard to describe the fascination and appreciation if you’ve never read his books. It’s complicated. Read one and you’ll discover your own badassness. There are multiple Holland Family stories which I'm reading out of order and it matters not. "Bartender, bring me the bottle and a club soda with lime for the sheriff here." Then I just might be ready to go get my first tattoo, one for each of his books I read. Grownup badass girl scout badges. But not on my forehead.
"We decry violence all the time in this country, but look at our history. We were born in a violent revolution, and we've been in wars ever since. We're not a pacific people." James Lee Burke
From a goodreads review: "Fuck me. Burke is such a goddamn badass."
If that language offends, you probably do not want to read these books. In this one Hackberry is an aging sheriff with a bad back, nursing sobriety, and he’s still a badass. Plus, our author is an equal opportunity writer and his women are also badass. Be very careful around them if they’ve been in or near the kitchen. The villains are as bad as it gets in the worst possible way. We’re talking Quentin Tarantino bad. While Hackberry is confronting a slime ball named Ouzel (that name) he “thought he could detect an odor that was reminiscent of a violated grave or the stench given off by an incinerator in which dead animals were burned.” Definitely skull and crossbones tattoo-on-their-forehead-bad.
Burke's trademark prose sings out like a siren song reeling you in. It’s like he's serenading you with poetry. If he was away at the ranch without you and you called and asked "Then what happened Jimmy?" he’d say something like “Then the sun broke above the crest of the hills and the entire countryside looked soaked in blood, the arroyos deep in shadow, the cones of dead volcanoes stark and biscuit-colored against the sky. I could smell the pinion trees, wet sea, woodsmoke, cattle in the pastures, and creek water that had melted from the snow. I could smell the way the country probably was when it was only a dream in the mind of God.” (Jesus Out to Sea).
Any other author would have a hard time having his way with me in this dark matter (even if I’m drinking a badass Zinfandel). It’s really hard to describe the fascination and appreciation if you’ve never read his books. It’s complicated. Read one and you’ll discover your own badassness. There are multiple Holland Family stories which I'm reading out of order and it matters not. "Bartender, bring me the bottle and a club soda with lime for the sheriff here." Then I just might be ready to go get my first tattoo, one for each of his books I read. Grownup badass girl scout badges. But not on my forehead.
April 3, 2010
Question to Self: "Self,how did you overlook Burke all of these years?" Answer: "I have no clue, but now that I found him, I want to read ALL of his books!" Great storyline & character development!
May 16, 2012
I’m beset with the voices of Gods, literary and atavistic, screaming at me about why I should or should not care about Burke and his Rain Gods or Burke and anything else he ever wrote.
I’m devoted to the guy, but at the same time my literary eye--my English teacher eye? What’s that worth?--sees right through him. Sees through his repeated characters and their repeated motifs. There’s always the recovered (recovering?) alcoholic, the endless descriptions of landscape and weather somehow tied to the moral implications of action and plot, the passages of scripture and philosophy from young, old, literate and ill-, also tied to the moral implications of action and plot. Isn’t this a bit like Barbara Cartland?
[Note here perhaps the most grotesque book cover photo in history. They guy’s really not much older than I am, and he’s not Alfred E. Neumann, so why do this except that he’s already sold all the books he needs and doesn’t care? I wouldn’t either.]
No, not really, no bodice-ripping here, I protest. But what’s the difference? Deeper I guess. And why isn’t it just Louis L’Amour. Well, I like him, too, so is it just a guy thing? No, for all his repetition, James Lee is deeper than Louis. L’Amour’s good vs. evil isn’t as profound as Burke’s, stereotyped though James Lee’s may be.
You’ve got to dig into where your mother poisons you and you run through rattlers in a cave and come out the other side to scavenge in dumps with boots held together with duct tape to get through a Burke evil. Louis never makes you do that.
I guess I could never defend either Louis or James Lee in a college seminar or a writing workshop, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t stop reading either one. [When’s your next one, Louis? I don’t care if you’re dead.] And that’s what makes the literary and the human world human and makes us, as Whitman put it, more or less, contradictions? Then we contradict ourselves, for we contain multitudes.
I’m devoted to the guy, but at the same time my literary eye--my English teacher eye? What’s that worth?--sees right through him. Sees through his repeated characters and their repeated motifs. There’s always the recovered (recovering?) alcoholic, the endless descriptions of landscape and weather somehow tied to the moral implications of action and plot, the passages of scripture and philosophy from young, old, literate and ill-, also tied to the moral implications of action and plot. Isn’t this a bit like Barbara Cartland?
[Note here perhaps the most grotesque book cover photo in history. They guy’s really not much older than I am, and he’s not Alfred E. Neumann, so why do this except that he’s already sold all the books he needs and doesn’t care? I wouldn’t either.]
No, not really, no bodice-ripping here, I protest. But what’s the difference? Deeper I guess. And why isn’t it just Louis L’Amour. Well, I like him, too, so is it just a guy thing? No, for all his repetition, James Lee is deeper than Louis. L’Amour’s good vs. evil isn’t as profound as Burke’s, stereotyped though James Lee’s may be.
You’ve got to dig into where your mother poisons you and you run through rattlers in a cave and come out the other side to scavenge in dumps with boots held together with duct tape to get through a Burke evil. Louis never makes you do that.
I guess I could never defend either Louis or James Lee in a college seminar or a writing workshop, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t stop reading either one. [When’s your next one, Louis? I don’t care if you’re dead.] And that’s what makes the literary and the human world human and makes us, as Whitman put it, more or less, contradictions? Then we contradict ourselves, for we contain multitudes.
November 27, 2013
A dark, wearisome and depressing novel
Crime novels come in all sorts of varieties and flavors. At one extreme are the slapstick Evanovich Stephanie Plum books. At the other end come moody and brooding novels like those that James Lee Burke produces. I have read several of his books and I know that they are not fun-loving romps, but the morose nature of this book takes the cake.
With the exception of two brief scenes Rain Gods: A Novel was relentless in its brooding tone. I found it wearisome. Every male character is burdened with evil deeds, obsesses over them and then acts out in self-destructive, often violent ways. All of the female lead characters offer wisdom, strength and guidance. There are literally more than a dozen bad guys and it seems that this desert Texas countryside is full of nothing but broken people, hookers, alcoholics, criminals and a couple of cops. Where are the regular people?
The book was just too much death, despair and regret for me.
A wearisome and disappointing read.
Crime novels come in all sorts of varieties and flavors. At one extreme are the slapstick Evanovich Stephanie Plum books. At the other end come moody and brooding novels like those that James Lee Burke produces. I have read several of his books and I know that they are not fun-loving romps, but the morose nature of this book takes the cake.
With the exception of two brief scenes Rain Gods: A Novel was relentless in its brooding tone. I found it wearisome. Every male character is burdened with evil deeds, obsesses over them and then acts out in self-destructive, often violent ways. All of the female lead characters offer wisdom, strength and guidance. There are literally more than a dozen bad guys and it seems that this desert Texas countryside is full of nothing but broken people, hookers, alcoholics, criminals and a couple of cops. Where are the regular people?
The book was just too much death, despair and regret for me.
A wearisome and disappointing read.
September 15, 2009
This is one of the best of Burke's books, and that's saying a tremendous amount. This man is the single best writer of "thriller" type novels, because they're so much more than that. His prose is elegant, and his plots all-consuming. I dare you to put one of his Dave Robicheaux (or any of his others) books down once you've started them. Unbelievably good.
December 11, 2009
Decided to start on Burke with a recent one. This seems a summing up of lifetime of themes and disheartening portrait of America. Like a home grown Le Carré or Greene, Burke uses a page turning thriller to capture the tenor of the times so accurately and artfully it will hold up as a historical novel. And what an ugly face he gives America, a litany of the ills of this fading empire including human trafficking, drug mules, the scarcity of opportunities for emotional scarred veterans, Russian and Mexican Mafia, the drug war in Mexico killing more people than Iraq, military contractors, Christianity hijacked by psychopaths and sociopaths for their own justification, and the enormous and growing gulf between rich and the poor. This sounds like a bitter pill but for the beauty of his landscapes, lyrical prose, genius of his dialogue, and compassion for his characters. This has been compared a lot to McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and the comparisons are noticeable; old sheriff lost in thoughts, an enigmatic serial killer, same general geography, and they both update Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Robert Stone’s Dog Soldiers. But Burke’s sheriff isn’t an impotent conservative but a former ACLU lawyer, and we get to know Preacher Jack Collins a lot better than Chigurgh, and the rest of his baddies (though Hugo and a demonic Russian mobster could have been explored more) Burke is a moralist not a nihilist but his work isn’t as a lean and stripped down as McCarthy’s work. Burke brings a large talent and astounding breadth of knowledge to the crime genre. Lots of food for thoughts from the characters being consumed by their past, the use of randomness and accidents in the plot (not in an annoying way it seems thematic) and why the Sheriff never seems to kill anyone (but his partner does).
April 30, 2017
James Lee Burke is an author whose canvass is paper as he paints stories with words!
While immense in the story one can visualize the settings and characters. James Lee Burke’s bad guys and gals are so bad that if you’re deeply engrossed in the book and someone knocks on your door or rings your doorbell or you hear the floor squeaking above your head, you’ll jump from fright. The law enforcement who chases the bad guys/gals is just as bad, and so is the staff─ they have to be to capture the monsters who create havoc in and around them.
Former attorney and war hero turned sheriff, Hackberry Holland, is after Preacher aka Jack Collins who is the badest of the bad, and who’d make a forensic psychiatrist’s wet his/her pants to have the opportunity to try to get into his head.
In James Lee Burke’s novels you learn how society help mold these individuals into the monsters they’ve become by turning their heads and pretending they don’t see the problem staring them square in the eyes.
In Rain Gods, we learn how those who’ve served in wars, protecting that same society, are left to fend for themselves after serving their country and keeping these society members safe in their self-made world of greed, jealously, and selfishness.
James Lee Burke’s stories are not for the faint of heart but if you’re interested in being held captive by good storytelling you’ll want to read Rain Gods.
While immense in the story one can visualize the settings and characters. James Lee Burke’s bad guys and gals are so bad that if you’re deeply engrossed in the book and someone knocks on your door or rings your doorbell or you hear the floor squeaking above your head, you’ll jump from fright. The law enforcement who chases the bad guys/gals is just as bad, and so is the staff─ they have to be to capture the monsters who create havoc in and around them.
Former attorney and war hero turned sheriff, Hackberry Holland, is after Preacher aka Jack Collins who is the badest of the bad, and who’d make a forensic psychiatrist’s wet his/her pants to have the opportunity to try to get into his head.
In James Lee Burke’s novels you learn how society help mold these individuals into the monsters they’ve become by turning their heads and pretending they don’t see the problem staring them square in the eyes.
In Rain Gods, we learn how those who’ve served in wars, protecting that same society, are left to fend for themselves after serving their country and keeping these society members safe in their self-made world of greed, jealously, and selfishness.
James Lee Burke’s stories are not for the faint of heart but if you’re interested in being held captive by good storytelling you’ll want to read Rain Gods.
January 8, 2017
Not surprisingly, James Lee Burke can tell a good story! If you like your violence with a literary twist, you ought to give him a try.
I like Hackberry Holland (and this prong of the story arc). I thought the first book in this (relatively compact) sub-series was the weakest, which probably means I prefer the aging, more mature version of Hack. To be fair, JLB rolled out Hackberry Holland years before he hit his stride with his primary vehicle, Dave Robicheaux, so another way to look at it is that I like the Hackberry Holland that JLB re-introduces us to - in this book - nearly 40 years later, with more than 15 Dave Robiceaux novels under his belt. Which makes sense, because I enjoyed Dave Robicheaux more in installment 20 than I did in installment one....
An interesting blend of themes here - many staples of the JLB library - violence (of the most pathological kind), alcohol (and addiction), love (always complicated, never simple), aging (inexorable), error and (sometimes) redemption, human frailty, luck and misfortune, and service (which rarely is without cost)....
I expect I'll continue chipping away at the mountain of JLB novels. Which prong next? Back to Dave Robicheaux? Or should I give Billy Bob Holland a try?
I like Hackberry Holland (and this prong of the story arc). I thought the first book in this (relatively compact) sub-series was the weakest, which probably means I prefer the aging, more mature version of Hack. To be fair, JLB rolled out Hackberry Holland years before he hit his stride with his primary vehicle, Dave Robicheaux, so another way to look at it is that I like the Hackberry Holland that JLB re-introduces us to - in this book - nearly 40 years later, with more than 15 Dave Robiceaux novels under his belt. Which makes sense, because I enjoyed Dave Robicheaux more in installment 20 than I did in installment one....
An interesting blend of themes here - many staples of the JLB library - violence (of the most pathological kind), alcohol (and addiction), love (always complicated, never simple), aging (inexorable), error and (sometimes) redemption, human frailty, luck and misfortune, and service (which rarely is without cost)....
I expect I'll continue chipping away at the mountain of JLB novels. Which prong next? Back to Dave Robicheaux? Or should I give Billy Bob Holland a try?
September 11, 2018
one of the best thrillers of Burke
April 22, 2022
Around the World of Crime
In the real world, it's nice to have a/c and food and a sheriff's office just next door.
Cast - 2 stars: Preacher/Jack Collins just might try to redeem himself and set folks free. Or blow anyone's head off. But you never know, and he keeps Sherriff Holland, his sidekick Pam, on-the-run couple Pete and Vicki, ICE, the Dolan family, Russian AND Mexican gangsters, and... well, therein lies the rub. Who are all these people in this mid-length crime novel?
Atmosphere - 4: You will feel filthy and exhausted. Burke is very good with this element.
Crime -3: The mass murder of 9 prostitutes kicks the story off. But there are past crimes to be avenged. Too many really.
Investigation - 4: The sheriff will not allow pain or age or nightmares to stop him. And this is indeed no country for old men. I really liked how, in a way, Sheriff Holland feels oddly protective of some vile characters.
Resolution - 2: There are just too many narratives going on here.
SUMMARY - 3 stars. This novel is like a cake that's mostly icing. With ice cream. I'd remove half the characters and edit this down from 430 pages to about 300.
In the real world, it's nice to have a/c and food and a sheriff's office just next door.
Cast - 2 stars: Preacher/Jack Collins just might try to redeem himself and set folks free. Or blow anyone's head off. But you never know, and he keeps Sherriff Holland, his sidekick Pam, on-the-run couple Pete and Vicki, ICE, the Dolan family, Russian AND Mexican gangsters, and... well, therein lies the rub. Who are all these people in this mid-length crime novel?
Atmosphere - 4: You will feel filthy and exhausted. Burke is very good with this element.
Crime -3: The mass murder of 9 prostitutes kicks the story off. But there are past crimes to be avenged. Too many really.
Investigation - 4: The sheriff will not allow pain or age or nightmares to stop him. And this is indeed no country for old men. I really liked how, in a way, Sheriff Holland feels oddly protective of some vile characters.
Resolution - 2: There are just too many narratives going on here.
SUMMARY - 3 stars. This novel is like a cake that's mostly icing. With ice cream. I'd remove half the characters and edit this down from 430 pages to about 300.
August 14, 2018
Eigentlich nicht schlecht, konnte dem Hörbuch aber nur sehr schlecht folgen. Daher abgebrochen.
April 12, 2022
I liked the book, but it was a bit long. Certain parts dragged for me that did not add any intrinsic value to me. I like the writing and the characters. I have not read a lot of books that take place in Louisiana, so that is interesting.
August 2, 2011
James Lee Burke is a great writer, who delights in intellectual asides, precision pastel description, and discursive moral tirades that could rival a fundamentalist preacher, threaded through thriller novels that feature strong-willed, emotionally damaged (from military service and the loss of a wife), recovering addict (usually alcohol) lawmen facing off against a hard-bitten, intelligent, psychopaths who have little or no care for humanity. There is usually a sidekick, a loyal compadre of similar stripe, or a tough female cop. His hero bumbles through his quest, gets hurt and luckily dodges death, but doggedly stays on the trail, while constantly dealing with demons in his head. His prototype, of course, is detective Dave Robicheaux of Louisiana, but similar protagonists have appeared in other stories. Burke has a template, and he seldom strays from it. One might argue that there is no reason to mess with a good thing, but it does get tiresome. In fact, his characters are often interchangeable. His tales have garnered a large loyal following, among whom I consider myself, and his recent effort, Rain Gods, is an enjoyable romp. But methinks his skills are slipping, he is rushing to satisfy obligations, or his editors have simply given up pointing out problems because of impressive sales and awards. In this volume, Burke was even more repetitive than usual. Anyone who regularly reads his work will recognize that his characters are in many ways one dimensional. It is ok if one consistently uses the same phrases and thoughts, but it is highly disconcerting when many characters adopt the same tone and dialogue, even within the same volume. His characters’ thoughts and speech (whether they be good or bad) seem to come out of the same mouth. You can be pretty sure there will be some scatological reference to glass or some other painful device, and mention of spitting or pissing into someone’s mouth, and abuse via toilet bowl is commonplace. One or more characters will request that someone remove an item from their mouth. “Can you take the pralines out of your mouth,” deputy Pam Tibbs asks, while Preacher says almost the same thing to one of his cohorts, “Can you take the crackers out of your mouth.” Many characters in other books use the expression, or some variant: “Want to take the collard greens out of your mouth” (Robicheaux, Glass Rainbow); “so clean the mashed potatoes out of your mouth” (Clete, Tin Roof Blowdown); “take the mashed potatoes out of your mouth” (Molly, Tin Roof Blowdown); “how about getting the mashed potatoes out of your mouth” (Clete, Tin Roof Blowdown); “the bean pole with the corn fritters in her mouth” (Clete, Crusader’s Cross); “Clean the peanut brittle out of your mouth” (Robicheaux, Burning Angel); "Come on, Clete, get the peanut brittle out of your mouth" (Dixie City Jam), and so on. In three volumes (Heaven’s Prisoners, Electric Mist, and Stained White Radiance) characters are told to “clean the shit out of your mouth.” In fact, Burke has an oral fixation, because there must be sixty or more references to the mouth---wiped, filled with a cigarette, dripping saliva, screwed tight, etc---in each book. Often a female character will place her fingers in the protagonist’s mouth, and frequently a character is shot in the mouth, or is threatened to be shot there. Burke also falls in love with certain words or phrases. He must have used “riparian” three times in this book. In nearly a dozen volumes you will find “firing in the well.” How many times was mention of J. Wesley Hardin needed? There are other signs that Burke is just pumping them out, but will that keep me from picking up his next offering? Nope.
August 3, 2013
I read everything by James Lee Burke. In this book he is a painter rather than a writer. Watch for the descriptions of the landscapes and sunsets and how they become metaphors of the story. Also his character descriptions are surreal and immediate.
I have not finished the book, I give it only 4 stars because I adore so many of his other books and I feel he is going over the same territory but not touching me as deeply as books like the "Confederate Mist". However it is a vast poetic and philosophical terrain of good and evil. Every one of his paragraphs is vibratingly descriptive and worthwhile to read slowly. I love his prose style, which is my first criteria for reading...what the printed page looks like. Also I feel the main character Hack is lacking a really strong feeling of connection to anyone (we are not getting inside of his relationships strongly enough). Maybe that's the point. Probably it has to do with the fact that Burke and I are both getting older and the death and destruction never does seem to end. He is wanting to write the bigger picture.
I have actually been brought to tears by some of his other novel's protagonists, but not this one so far.
I have not finished the book, I give it only 4 stars because I adore so many of his other books and I feel he is going over the same territory but not touching me as deeply as books like the "Confederate Mist". However it is a vast poetic and philosophical terrain of good and evil. Every one of his paragraphs is vibratingly descriptive and worthwhile to read slowly. I love his prose style, which is my first criteria for reading...what the printed page looks like. Also I feel the main character Hack is lacking a really strong feeling of connection to anyone (we are not getting inside of his relationships strongly enough). Maybe that's the point. Probably it has to do with the fact that Burke and I are both getting older and the death and destruction never does seem to end. He is wanting to write the bigger picture.
I have actually been brought to tears by some of his other novel's protagonists, but not this one so far.
March 28, 2012
This is the first book I've read by James Lee Burke and I loved it. Burke is unique among mystery/thriller writers in that he uses a lot of flowerly langauge and has his characters engage in a lot of philosophical reflection. I listened to the audio book which was read by Will Patton who did a fantastic job. Listening to the book was almost like watching a movie. The main character Hackberry Holland is an elderly sheriff in a remote Texas border town (think Tommy Lee Jones or Clint Eastwood). Hackberry was a wonderful character - trying to do the right thing and living my his own unique code of honor. The supporting characters were also wonderful. One of the bad guys, Nick Dolan, had an amazing character arc - starting out as a petty criminal with petty thoughts and ending the book on a truly heroic note. I've already started the next book in the series.
July 30, 2009
"Critics have nothing but praise for Burke's latest Hackberry Holland novel. An author with a deep regional feel for parts of the United States -- including Texas and Louisiana -- Burke aptly portrays ""a range war in Southwest Texas -- a pitched battle between gangs of displaced bad guys, fighting among themselves for the new territory against the outmatched locals"" (New York Times Book Review). He revisits themes of sin and redemption, but adds unusual layers of depth to his story with a keen exploration of human flaws and true characterizations. Preacher Jack intrigued critics to no end, while even minor characters were wholly compelling. Burke's fans will relish this fast-paced, tense, and harrowing addition to his oeuvre."
February 1, 2018
Many years have passed since the first Hackberry Holland novel. The young attorney is now a 70-year-old sheriff, following in his family's footsteps.
And James Lee Burke is at his best here, painting vivid word pictures and creating memorable characters on both sides of the law.
We know what series I will be devouring next month! Too bad McKay's had cut down on the Burke shelves.
And James Lee Burke is at his best here, painting vivid word pictures and creating memorable characters on both sides of the law.
We know what series I will be devouring next month! Too bad McKay's had cut down on the Burke shelves.
December 18, 2025
I think the editor could have lost about 100 to 150 pages if this book and again I had no idea it was book #2 and that the first one had been written decades before
I guess the star of the book is Sheriff Hackberry Holland , Korean War vet former lawyer ( book #1 ) He is now in a small Texas town where he finds the bodies of 9 Asian women / girls who were murdered and then bulldozed into a mass grave There are many many bad guys.— with their own deep dive into their history and on some cases childhood and parents early lives to explain why they are the way they are The primary bad guy is preacher Jack Collin’s — not a preacher but a weird code of morality ( ? ) throw in another war veteran , Pete ( from Iraq ) and his singing girlfriend — both bad guys , good guys the FBI and other agencies all after Pete and Vickie.
There are very long descriptions of the land and the clouds and the air and the buildings and the smells
Overall it is a very compelling good story but I just thought way tooooo long I easily would put it down for days at a time
I guess the star of the book is Sheriff Hackberry Holland , Korean War vet former lawyer ( book #1 ) He is now in a small Texas town where he finds the bodies of 9 Asian women / girls who were murdered and then bulldozed into a mass grave There are many many bad guys.— with their own deep dive into their history and on some cases childhood and parents early lives to explain why they are the way they are The primary bad guy is preacher Jack Collin’s — not a preacher but a weird code of morality ( ? ) throw in another war veteran , Pete ( from Iraq ) and his singing girlfriend — both bad guys , good guys the FBI and other agencies all after Pete and Vickie.
There are very long descriptions of the land and the clouds and the air and the buildings and the smells
Overall it is a very compelling good story but I just thought way tooooo long I easily would put it down for days at a time
September 1, 2017
James Lee Burke is a mighty fine writer. His exposition is such that I feel like I'm there. His characters are complex and consistent. Always a good read and these Hackberry Holland stories are as good as any. A four book series.
December 11, 2020
This second book in the series did definitely not disappoint. It's weaves the story very skillfully and there is no dull moment. Really enjoying the series
March 24, 2021
To me this author is very brilliant and extremely deep. This book was good at times but for me it just carried on a little too long throughout the book. Another thing I was very disappointed on How this book started about 30 or 40 years in the future from the previous and initial book of the series.
May 23, 2025
A deep look into the dark soul of America on the southern boarder. Rain and turmoil is in the air and this tense atmosphere has it's unique charme. I love how the characters are set up and I look forward to more JLBs....
May 26, 2019
Only James Lee Burke can describe flies on a trash can and make you think you are reading poetry!
May 17, 2024
I made the mistake of ordering this book during an Audible sale a few years ago. If I had not bought it, I probably would have returned it to the library unfinished.
August 31, 2009
HARD PRINT - http://theleadmiamibeach.com/2009/082...
Let’s Get Biblical
James Lee Burke Brings Down the Wrath of Rain Gods
By John Hood
“It’s better that some people don’t live. They should be taken before their souls are forfeit. That means some of us have to help them in ways they don’t like, in ways that seem truly awful at the time.”
That’s Preacher Jack Collins, talking to a low rent whore in a flea bag motel room on the wrong side of San Antonio’s dust-blown tracks. The whore clearly does not want to be there. In fact, she’s scared nearly to death. But she was even more scared to have not come at all; risk having Preacher hunt her down. Then she’d surely be dead. At least this way she gets a chance to try and explain herself.
Not that anything any whore’d say would matter to this mad man. After all, he’s "one notch below the scourge of God." So if he listens to anyone it’s probably only gonna be the Big Boy himself. And even then, one gets the impression that there might be some questioning. See, Jack’s adamant like that. And he’s most adamant about killing people.
That’s part of what makes Preacher a perfect villain for James Lee Burke’s Rain Dogs (Simon & Schuster, $25.95); that and the fact Jack has a back story straight outta Hell. But don’t let the fact that Jack’s mother was a whore who holed up in and tricked out of boxcars lead you to believe this killer’s completely without compassion – even if he does still seem to be shaken by the stir she put on his psyche. I mean, even a murderous scourge can’t kill everyone he comes across, can he?
Well, yes, maybe he can. The question is whether or not he wants to. And with small town Texas Sheriff Hackberry Holland breathing down his dirty neck, he’s got less and less time even to pose a question, let alone answer it. That gets Jack mad. And nobody gets Jack mad – law man or otherwise.
Not that Hack gives a shit. He’s got a job to do. After a guilt-ridden lowlife drops a dime about a mass murder, Hack has a job he can sink his soul into. He may not have known the nine young Asian women he dug up from an abandoned churchyard, but he knows he won’t let their deaths go unanswered. And no Bible-belting blowhard is gonna stand in his way either.
So Hack’s chasing Jack. And that gets Jack chasing Hack right back. Thing is, he’s already chasing Pete Flores, the cat who dashed in the middle of the wetwork. So there’s that. There are a few others who’d like a word with Pete too, namely the wanna-be boss Hugo Cistranos and his ragtag gang of scumbags, Bobby Lee (who swears he’s a descendant of the same-named Civil War general) and Liam Eriksson (who has “the eyes of a man to whom there was no significant reality beyond the tips of his fingers”).
Pete’s also got a dame named Vicki Gaddis (a nod to the novelist of the same surname?), so she’s being chased too. And since the dead women had been smuggled across the Mexican border, the Feds are also involved. That places the essentially good Ethan Riser of the FBI and the essentially unhinged agent Isaac Clawson of ICE on the same crooked trail.
It all makes for one vicious circle entwined within another, then looped like a noose around Pete’s scrawny throat. Add a couple displaced Big Easy gangsters (Artie Rooney and Nick Dolan), who may or may not be after each other, and a smitten Deputy (Pam Tibbs), who in one way or another is after everybody in sight, and you’ve got the makings of an incredibly circuitous conundrum.
Fortunately all this has been written by the very gifted Burke, a man who in his spare time probably solves the mysteries of the universe, so making sense of this madness is easy as proverbial pie. That’s how Burke makes it look anyway. Then again, he’s always been a rather wily wordslinger.
Like his long-running Dave Robicheaux series of who-did-its, “Rain Gods” is steeped in the legacy of violence. Unlike the Cajun twang of those tall tales though, this resounds like something handed down by a grand-daddy Texas Ranger. As always, Burke’s lush on landscape and deep in the human condition, so you get both a verdant crime story and a candid picture of the heaven and the hell that we all carry on our shoulders. Mostly you get to lose yourself in a world created by a sage and delivered with the grace of angels.
Can you think of a better reason to read a book? Me neither.
http://theleadmiamibeach.com/2009/082...
Let’s Get Biblical
James Lee Burke Brings Down the Wrath of Rain Gods
By John Hood
“It’s better that some people don’t live. They should be taken before their souls are forfeit. That means some of us have to help them in ways they don’t like, in ways that seem truly awful at the time.”
That’s Preacher Jack Collins, talking to a low rent whore in a flea bag motel room on the wrong side of San Antonio’s dust-blown tracks. The whore clearly does not want to be there. In fact, she’s scared nearly to death. But she was even more scared to have not come at all; risk having Preacher hunt her down. Then she’d surely be dead. At least this way she gets a chance to try and explain herself.
Not that anything any whore’d say would matter to this mad man. After all, he’s "one notch below the scourge of God." So if he listens to anyone it’s probably only gonna be the Big Boy himself. And even then, one gets the impression that there might be some questioning. See, Jack’s adamant like that. And he’s most adamant about killing people.
That’s part of what makes Preacher a perfect villain for James Lee Burke’s Rain Dogs (Simon & Schuster, $25.95); that and the fact Jack has a back story straight outta Hell. But don’t let the fact that Jack’s mother was a whore who holed up in and tricked out of boxcars lead you to believe this killer’s completely without compassion – even if he does still seem to be shaken by the stir she put on his psyche. I mean, even a murderous scourge can’t kill everyone he comes across, can he?
Well, yes, maybe he can. The question is whether or not he wants to. And with small town Texas Sheriff Hackberry Holland breathing down his dirty neck, he’s got less and less time even to pose a question, let alone answer it. That gets Jack mad. And nobody gets Jack mad – law man or otherwise.
Not that Hack gives a shit. He’s got a job to do. After a guilt-ridden lowlife drops a dime about a mass murder, Hack has a job he can sink his soul into. He may not have known the nine young Asian women he dug up from an abandoned churchyard, but he knows he won’t let their deaths go unanswered. And no Bible-belting blowhard is gonna stand in his way either.
So Hack’s chasing Jack. And that gets Jack chasing Hack right back. Thing is, he’s already chasing Pete Flores, the cat who dashed in the middle of the wetwork. So there’s that. There are a few others who’d like a word with Pete too, namely the wanna-be boss Hugo Cistranos and his ragtag gang of scumbags, Bobby Lee (who swears he’s a descendant of the same-named Civil War general) and Liam Eriksson (who has “the eyes of a man to whom there was no significant reality beyond the tips of his fingers”).
Pete’s also got a dame named Vicki Gaddis (a nod to the novelist of the same surname?), so she’s being chased too. And since the dead women had been smuggled across the Mexican border, the Feds are also involved. That places the essentially good Ethan Riser of the FBI and the essentially unhinged agent Isaac Clawson of ICE on the same crooked trail.
It all makes for one vicious circle entwined within another, then looped like a noose around Pete’s scrawny throat. Add a couple displaced Big Easy gangsters (Artie Rooney and Nick Dolan), who may or may not be after each other, and a smitten Deputy (Pam Tibbs), who in one way or another is after everybody in sight, and you’ve got the makings of an incredibly circuitous conundrum.
Fortunately all this has been written by the very gifted Burke, a man who in his spare time probably solves the mysteries of the universe, so making sense of this madness is easy as proverbial pie. That’s how Burke makes it look anyway. Then again, he’s always been a rather wily wordslinger.
Like his long-running Dave Robicheaux series of who-did-its, “Rain Gods” is steeped in the legacy of violence. Unlike the Cajun twang of those tall tales though, this resounds like something handed down by a grand-daddy Texas Ranger. As always, Burke’s lush on landscape and deep in the human condition, so you get both a verdant crime story and a candid picture of the heaven and the hell that we all carry on our shoulders. Mostly you get to lose yourself in a world created by a sage and delivered with the grace of angels.
Can you think of a better reason to read a book? Me neither.
http://theleadmiamibeach.com/2009/082...
October 24, 2019
I found a JLB book that I had not read at a booksale and bought it for $1. This story revolves around the Holland family, which Burke has written several books about, these books are typically based in Texas.
Excellent, The Holland Family Saga books are fantastic.
Excellent, The Holland Family Saga books are fantastic.
September 5, 2025
Great book but I still like the Dave Robicheaux ones best.
November 8, 2014
Eine dicke Überraschung beim auspacken des Amazon-Pakets ... was für ein Klopper von einem Buch! Das es rund 670 Seiten sind wusste ich aber trotzdem ... Nun gut, das Cover mit der gottverlassenen Kirche und dem finstren Himmel gefällt und verbreitet eine grimmig-böse Grundstimmung. Es geht dann auch gleich los mit der rasanten Geschichte und der Grundstein allen Übels wird gelegt. In einem unwirtlichen texanischen Kaff nahe der mexikanischen Grenze werden hinter einem Gotteshaus neun blutjunge Asiatinnen mit einer Maschinenpistole erschossen und die Leichen notdürftig mit einer Planierraupe zugedeckt. Die Opfer werden dank einem Zeugen schnell gefunden und die Jagd auf die erbarmungslosen Täter nimmt seinen Lauf.
Der Roman lebt eindeutig von den Protagonisten, die ich übrigens gelungen finde, und dem wechselseitigen Spannungsfeld in dem sie agieren. Der Schriftsteller James Lee Burke erzählt nicht nur aus der Sicht der Jäger wie Sheriff Hackberry Holland oder Agent Isaac Clawson sondern lässt auch den Bösewichten wie Prediger Jack Collins viel Platz und es sind erstaunlicherweise genau die Schurken die die Leserschaft das ein oder andere Mal, aber längst nicht immer, überraschen. Sheriff Hackberry Holland ist über siebzig Jahre alt und er hat ein krisengeschütteltes Leben geführt. Soldat und Kriegsgefangener in Nordkorea, Alkoholsucht, Scheidung und Depressionen. Es gibt nichts was ihn in seinem Alter noch erschüttern könnte und genau diese Furchtlosigkeit vor dem Tod macht ihn zu einem brandgefährlichen Gesetzeshüter. Agent Clawson wiederum befindet sich als einsamer Rächer auf einem ganz eigenen Vergeltungstrip ...und Preacher Jack Collins verkörpert mit seinem unheilvollen Übernamen als „linke Hand Gottes“ das skrupellose Böse schlechthin.
Der Schreibstil ist gefällig, exakt und die Geschichte lässt sich mühelos lesen. Einzig die Personen sollte man von Beginn weg gedanklich gut einsortieren damit man die Figuren die das ganze Spektrum von gut über leicht verdorben bis tief ins Mark böse jederzeit auf zack, ganz nach ihrem auftauchen in der Erzählung, zuordnen kann. Der Autor schreibt zwar von Gewalttaten geht aber dankenswerter Weise nicht bis ins eklige, blutige Detail. Die Handlungsorte verfügen nicht hundertprozentig über die pythische Aura die ich erwartet habe aber die texanische Einöde mit der Kleinstadt-Atmosphäre ist insgesamt treffend beschrieben. Die Handlung als solche wird stringent vorwärtsgetrieben mit sattem Tempo aber auch kleineren Passagen zum durchatmen. Die eingeflochtenen Bibelstellen verleihen dem Roman etwas alttestamentarische Mystik.
Dieses Buch ist ganz sicher spezielle Genreliteratur und sollte im Prinzip nur von Leser/-innen in die Hand genommen werden, die ahnen was für eine rasante und hie und da deftige Story auf sie zukommt. Am ehesten würde ich es Lesern empfehlen die Joe R. Lansdale oder Donald Ray Pollock mögen. In Amerika geniesst James Lee Burke einen gewissen Kultstatus und mit diesem Buch wird die Basis für weitere Bücher des Autors auf Deutsch gelegt, was mir durchaus zu gefallen vermag.
Der Roman lebt eindeutig von den Protagonisten, die ich übrigens gelungen finde, und dem wechselseitigen Spannungsfeld in dem sie agieren. Der Schriftsteller James Lee Burke erzählt nicht nur aus der Sicht der Jäger wie Sheriff Hackberry Holland oder Agent Isaac Clawson sondern lässt auch den Bösewichten wie Prediger Jack Collins viel Platz und es sind erstaunlicherweise genau die Schurken die die Leserschaft das ein oder andere Mal, aber längst nicht immer, überraschen. Sheriff Hackberry Holland ist über siebzig Jahre alt und er hat ein krisengeschütteltes Leben geführt. Soldat und Kriegsgefangener in Nordkorea, Alkoholsucht, Scheidung und Depressionen. Es gibt nichts was ihn in seinem Alter noch erschüttern könnte und genau diese Furchtlosigkeit vor dem Tod macht ihn zu einem brandgefährlichen Gesetzeshüter. Agent Clawson wiederum befindet sich als einsamer Rächer auf einem ganz eigenen Vergeltungstrip ...und Preacher Jack Collins verkörpert mit seinem unheilvollen Übernamen als „linke Hand Gottes“ das skrupellose Böse schlechthin.
Der Schreibstil ist gefällig, exakt und die Geschichte lässt sich mühelos lesen. Einzig die Personen sollte man von Beginn weg gedanklich gut einsortieren damit man die Figuren die das ganze Spektrum von gut über leicht verdorben bis tief ins Mark böse jederzeit auf zack, ganz nach ihrem auftauchen in der Erzählung, zuordnen kann. Der Autor schreibt zwar von Gewalttaten geht aber dankenswerter Weise nicht bis ins eklige, blutige Detail. Die Handlungsorte verfügen nicht hundertprozentig über die pythische Aura die ich erwartet habe aber die texanische Einöde mit der Kleinstadt-Atmosphäre ist insgesamt treffend beschrieben. Die Handlung als solche wird stringent vorwärtsgetrieben mit sattem Tempo aber auch kleineren Passagen zum durchatmen. Die eingeflochtenen Bibelstellen verleihen dem Roman etwas alttestamentarische Mystik.
Dieses Buch ist ganz sicher spezielle Genreliteratur und sollte im Prinzip nur von Leser/-innen in die Hand genommen werden, die ahnen was für eine rasante und hie und da deftige Story auf sie zukommt. Am ehesten würde ich es Lesern empfehlen die Joe R. Lansdale oder Donald Ray Pollock mögen. In Amerika geniesst James Lee Burke einen gewissen Kultstatus und mit diesem Buch wird die Basis für weitere Bücher des Autors auf Deutsch gelegt, was mir durchaus zu gefallen vermag.
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